If you want to get to the top of the Google SERPs so that you can attract more visitors to your site, then there are countless SEO companies out there that claim to be able to help you do it. Just check out a freelancing site like UpWork, or a marketing forum like Warrior Forum and you’ll be inundated with options.
But how do you know if the company you’re working with is worth your investment? How can you separate the wheat from the chaff?
Signs of a Poor SEO Company
There are several types of low quality SEO companies. On the one hand, there are all those companies that mean well but are simply outdated and still using old-fashioned tactics. These are the companies that will offer link trades with other sites, that will submit your website to link directories and that will write you lots of content for your website using a very generic formula and an over-abundance of unnatural looking search terms.
In other words, these are the companies trying to help you ‘trick’ Google and trying to manipulate the way that its search algorithms work in order to try and help you get to the top of the SERPs. They probably mean well but Google has long since become smarter than that and more complex. Today, this method is most likely to get you de-indexed or at least penalized.
At least these do companies mean well.
Because the other type of SEO company is the type that knows full well that these kinds of methods don’t work… and tries to use them anyway. These are the companies that will submit your links using automated tools, that will sell you poorly-written content and that will make bombastic promises that they can’t possibly deliver on.
Another type of poor SEO company is the company that attempts to trick Google knowing that they aren’t supposed to use those strategies but believing it will still work. These are the ‘black hat’ SEO companies that will use ‘private blog networks’ and other methods to try and manipulate Google.
None of these companies are worth your time or your money…
What a Good SEO Company Looks Like
Good SEO should really work as part of a larger marketing package which should also include social media marketing, content marketing, brand design, traditional advertising and more. By using all of these different techniques together, these companies can provide a comprehensive strategy that builds trust, builds visibility and generally helps you to climb the ranks and get to the top.
You can tell a good SEO company because it will be concerned with helping you to deliver quality experiences to your visitors and building a brand that will survive in the long-term. This is what Google wants you to be doing and thus it is what the best SEO involves.
Even if you can get a quick jump in your performance by paying for links, or by using a PBN (Private Blog Network), eventually that is going to come back and bite you. Focus on quality and play the long game!
